Poetry Magazine Editor

Poetry Foundation

Poetry Magazine Editor

The Editor is responsible for all aspects of the monthly publication of Poetry and reports to the President of the Poetry Foundation. The Editor will uphold Poetry’s legacy of discovering the very best poets and critics and presenting their work at the highest level of production. In keeping with long tradition, the Editor has editorial autonomy.

Editorial principles

Since Poetry’s founding, Editors have attempted to follow principles first enunciated by Harriet Monroe in 1912: The Open Door will be the policy of the magazine.... To this end the editors hope to keep free of entangling alliances with any single class or school. They desire to print the best English verse which is being written today, regardless of where, by whom, or under what theory of art it is written. Nor will the magazine promise to limit its editorial comments to one set of opinions.

Responsibilities

The Editor is responsible for all aspects of the magazine’s publication, including editorial duties, production oversight, and business decisions, as well as management of the staff of Poetry. Responsibilities include both print and digital initiatives. Editorial duties include selecting poems, commissioning prose, planning special issues, and editing all final copy. The Editor will also write prose for the magazine, as required. Production duties include layout of all content and artwork, supervision of typesetting and proofreading, and approval of all final copy. Business decisions include the development and implementation of the magazine’s budget; planning, design, and roll-out of all marketing campaigns; and oversight of all legal issues related to publication (copyright registrations, releases, permissions, etc.).

Cooperative and extra-editorial activities

The Editor’s other responsibilities include the following:1) work with the other senior managers of the Poetry Foundation on special projects and provide advice and counsel on programs, as required;2) manage the selection of the Lilly Prize and Fellowships and all of the magazine’s annual prizes;3) create and present, along with Poetry staff, public programming in the Foundation’s building with a focus on poets and poetry published in the magazine; and 4) speak about poetry before a wide audience across a variety of settings in the promotion of the magazine, the Foundation, and the missions of both. Other special projects as identified.

Qualifications include the following

• A passion for—and a deep knowledge of—poetry; an independent critical intelligence; a demonstrated interest in other art forms; intellectual integrity and high energy. • Demonstrated editorial and management capabilities, and demonstrated ability to write strong critical and expository prose. • Good public speaker and an even better listener.

Application

The Poetry Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and values the various perspectives and talents of a diverse staff. Interested applicants should email a cover letter, a C.V. or résumé, and a list of personal references to employment@poetryfoundation.org[1], subject line: EDITOR. Only documents submitted as PDFs will be reviewed. Consideration of applications begins immediately and will continue until position is filled.